Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-12-20
THE MEXICAN HAMMOCK.
How II Ii Made, and Attendant Peculil
Circumstances.

Circumstances.
''Snug pile of hammocks, isn't it?"
asked a down town importer Of re-
porter, pointing to stack of bales on tho
sidewalk in front of his place.
"Yes, rather. What are they? Mexi-
can seagrass?"
"Sea nonsense! Hammocks are not
made Of seagrass any more than floor
mating is. These are Mexican ham
mocks, but they are made from the fiber
Of the heniquen plant, a species Of cac'
tus that flourishes in the state of Yuca-
tan. All Mexican hammocks are made
there, and more hammocks are exported
from there than from any other place in
the world"
"IIow are they made?" asked the re-
porter.
"They are made entirely by hand and
with primitive implements, continued
the dealer. with couple of straight
poles, home made shuttle, thin slab
of native zapoli wood, and pile of heni-
Quen leaves the Indian Of Yucatan is pre-
pared to accept contracts for hammocks
by the piece, dozen or hundred. The
poles are placed certain distance apart,
according to the length Of the hammock
20 be made. The thin slab of wood is
rapidly fashioned with the aid VI small
machette into tonkas or stripper. BY
the aid of this tonkas the fiber Of the
thick, fleshy heniquen leaf, which is q
species of cactus, is denuded Of its cover
ing, and a wisp of batchkill or rasped
fiber is the result.
1.-The hatchkill is bleached in the sun
and then becomes soskil. These are then
separated into small heaps, containing
about the same number of fibers. When
the entire supply on hand is thus laid out
the operator takes up the iibers, and with
q dexterous roll between the palm of the
hand and the knee transforms them into
heavy cords or kuns, as the natives call
them.
"Out of this cord the hammocks are
made. The cord is wound around the
two poles which have been planted in the
ground and the work is turned over tc
the women. They, with their wide shut
ties, accomplish the balance Of the task
in a remarkably rapid and thorough man
ner. When pile has accumulated the
contractor comes around and gathers
them up.
"The relations between the operator
and contractor are very peculiar" said
the dealer, "and would exist nowhere
else in the world. In order to get the
hammocks necessary for his trade the
contractor must often pay for them three
months in advance, as it is only when the
natives owe money that they will consent
to work. In order to get chance to owe
this money the native will promise to
furnish the contractor, whom he knows,
with number of hammocks at a certain
time if the contractor will advance him q
sum of money. On this money the en-,
terprising native can live i'm illeness for
several months. The contractor agrees
to this. II he doesn't he can get no ham.
mocks. But once the native has bound
himself to supply the goods they will be
forthcoming at tie time stipulated.
Should death intervene, his relatives per-
form the contract.
''1'ut this advance system is sore drain
on the contractor, who is rarely person
Of large capital. lie must Of necessity
accommodate the natives, and he needs
outside help to do SO. This help he OBJ.
tLins in the shape Of advances from the
merchants in Merida, to whom he turn:
over the hammocks he secures at con.
siderable advance over the amount they
have cost him. These Merida merchant:
in turn send the goods to their New Yorl
correspondents.
"The hammocks are carefully sorted in
Merida before they are baled for ship
ment ID the United States, which absorb.
almost the entire production. Last yeaI
IL amounted TO nearly $4,000. All the
districts of lucatan produce greater ol
lesser quantity of hammocks. but the
Tixtoco district is by far the largest pro
ducer. sending out, il is calculated. every
year as many as the balance Of the stat,
put together. The finest specimens O
the hammock makers art. however
come from ChemaX. But few Of thes
ever find their way TO the United States
They are so eagerly sought after at hom
thlt there is no necessity for sending
them away, especially as good prices ar
realized en- the ground.
"HamInock making in Yucatan is evi
drntly a very old art" concluded th,
dealer. "While on a visit there som,
years ago found hammock hooks anc
bsams in nearly all the ruins Of the granC
prehistoric cities which lie buried in tin
forests. OF their history and the history
of the races which peopled the sea citie
all trace has been lost, but the intercstin;
little illItations which originate and ar,
carried on in the coy retreat Of the ham
mock Of today / doubt not had their pho
totypes many hundreds, perhaps thuus
ands, of years ago in the forests Of Yuca
tan, for evidently the Yucatanians O
those days all swung in hammocks." ~
Il